Alan Dale

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Alan Dale

Date Of Birth

Biography

Alan Dale was born on May 6, 1947 in Otago, New Zealand. Growing up without a television—his family was relatively poor—he developed a love of theater and amateur dramatics. After he staged his first performance in a school concert, his family built their own amateur theater, where Dale immersed himself in the world of performance, and basked in the audience’s applause. Despite being a skilled rugby player, he preferred acting because of the chance for a longer career. He retired from rugby at age 21, choosing instead to work multiple jobs—there were limited acting jobs in a small country—to support his family.

He got his start in show business after showing up in a local radio station, saying he can do a better job than the DJ who just left. He got an afternoon show, which led to his first television role. However, he became popular among Australian audiences when he starred in the soap opera Neighbours, where he played Jim Robinson. His eight-year run was marked by multiply beleaguered relationships and struggles to connect with his children. Despite popularity around the world—Neighbours had a particular following in the United Kingdom, for instance—Dale wasn’t happy with the low compensation he received from the show’s producers, and he left the show in 1993, when his character died of a heart attack.

After his Neighbours stint, Dale struggled getting his career back on track, as he was typecast as Jim Robinson. He only found wider success when he moved to Los Angeles in 1999, where he first was given a recurring role in ER. He made multiple guest appearances in different television shows, the most notable of which include stints in 24 and NCIS. He got his first regular American television role, however, in 2003, when he was cast as real estate tycoon Caleb Nichol in The OC. His success there led to roles in films such as Star Trek Nemesis, After Sunset and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the stage production Spamalot, and television programs like Lost and Ugly Betty, where he played publishing mogul Bradford Meade. When the series ended in 2010, he went on to appear in shows like Undercovers, The Killing, and Entourage. He was also cast in the movies Priest and Happy New Year.

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Quotes

(on "Neighbours", the show that started his career) -I didn’t like it there, they were not nice people. They treated us badly, so I don’t owe them anything. They sell it [the show] all over the world, make millions and still not a dollar for us [the actors]. It was just so awful, so I didn’t go back for the 20th anniversary thing.